Christmas Tree….. Budd’s Style

Traditionally we go and chop down our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, but not this year. Mike had to work on Friday (who made up that phrase banker’s hours anyway? They had to have been a heavy drinker) so we ventured out Saturday morning to Budd’s Tree Farm in Clarks Grove. We have been going there since Mike and I met, and Mike has been going there many years before that. It’s one tradition we have never let go of. We love it.

This year I decided to let Noah take the pictures. He wasn’t super keen on the idea at first but really warmed up to it as he got going.

Me, explaining this would be an example of a bbbaaadddd tree choice.

 

 

 

Mom and dad with attempted bunny ears.

 

 

 

We had about four trees we really liked. Then we would run into another one we liked. This continued until we decided we found the perfect one.

Connor asked to chop the tree down this year…..

 

Dad explaining to Connor how it’s done.

It’s a lot harder than it looks when you have short arms.

Success!

 

 

 

Off for a good shaking.

We put off decorating it until Sunday morning. I always have to do the lights (takes forever, lots of winding around each and every branch) and then the boys pretty much do all the rest, except the highest parts. I am not a collector (the thought of it makes me itch), so I don’t have interesting ornaments, ornaments with lots of meaning, or ornaments that came from 100 years ago. In fact, mine are hand-me-downs from my parents!  I have regular ornaments. And I like how it turns out every year. 

 

Happy first day of December tomorrow!

Love…

LB

 

Thankful

 

This could be a post about how much I love my family and friends and how thankful I am for all of them……..but you already know that. Right?

So, my top ten things I am thankful for lately:

1. Peppermint Mocha coffee creamer. Mike does the majority of the grocery shopping in our house. This is an example of what typically happens when I request a specific item, I asked him to get me some peppermint creamer and instead got me peppermint MOCHA creamer (very close to my request, but not quite). Well, his mistake is my fortune because I love it! If I roll over slightly and just start thinking about this yummy goodness, it makes me get out of bed. Even when it’s a sleep-in day.

2. Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro fingernail polish. I bought this for my nieces wedding that was Labor Day weekend. I just removed it and repainted my toes for the Black Dress event and there was not ONE chip in it. I know toenails last a lot longer than fingernails, but seriously? 3 months? Of course the paint needed to be redone due to regrowth, but there wasn’t a single chip. Pretty amazing. Burgundy Flirt is my color of choice.

3. Having four whole days off in a row. Going to shop, hang with family, possibly getting a movie night with my husband, and see some friends. Perfect.

4. Banana nut Cheerios. I know it’s artificial banana, but I love it.

5. Diet Coke from McDonalds. My co-workers and I make a trip for lunch once a week and I make that pop last all afternoon.

 

6. The TV show Parenthood. After Brothers and Sisters this show is my favorite. The fact that the Thanksgiving show ended with them dancing to the song, You Down with OPP had me smiling all week. (And texting it to my friend that loves the show too, only she didn’t get it……)

 

7. Pear Tree Greetings. I used them this year for my Christmas cards instead of Shutterfly and I saved over $30. They had just as many choices as Shutterfly and the process was just as easy. They came this week and they are every bit as nice. Awesome find.

8. Heated seats and automatic start. I forget about these two features all summer. I think I would give up automatic windows and locks to have these two features in my vehicle.

9. Online shopping. I have found amazing deals lately. It takes time to go from site to site looking for the best deal, but I saved over $100 on a certain gift for someone this year doing it. TOTALLY worth it. I like to go shopping, but we just have not had time to get out of town. I love knowing I am getting some gifts crossed off my list all from the comfort of my recliner.

10. Slippers. I wear them all the time. I even bring them to people’s houses when we go. I love them.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

LB

Little Black Dress 2010

 

This past Saturday I went with a bunch of friends to a charity event.  The Little Black Dress event was held at the County Club and the proceeds benefitted the Red Cross to help the victims of the flood.

Chely and Me

Nicole, Nancy, Gia

This was the first time this event had been held, and they already have plans in the works for next year. This year, with the event benefitting of the Red Cross, you had to accessorize with red. Next year it’s going to benefit breast cancer research so the accessories will all have to be pink.

The country club did an excellent job of making the event special from the martini bar to the beautifully decorated banquet room. The planners set up a “red carpet” entrance complete with paparazzi and a backdrop for more formal pictures. Its was actually quite hilarious! They handed out pictures all night and it was a cute touch.

Stolen from facebook

Stolen from facebook

We enjoyed dinner and signed up for some raffle prizes. You could buy as many tickets as you wanted and then stick them into whichever raffle you liked. There was everything from a day of pampering (nails, facials, house cleaning) to jewelry to wine. I put the most tickets in the 2 hour photo session for my family with a professional photographer from town. Then I also put one ticket in another box.

I won off that one ticket. What did I win, you ask?

24 margaritas from a local restaurant!

Ha! I don’t even really like margaritas. Once I found out how many calories were in one margarita……they have not been my drink of choice. Oh well, at least I won something. Plus, I might just be the most popular girl in the joint that night.

We danced to the DJ (he donated his time to the event. How cool is that?) and got all sweaty! Those 80s tunes just kept luring us onto that dance floor.

Stolen from Facebook! Marisa the party planner on the far left!  Love that girl.

Jen, Gia, Me

 

Stolen from Facebook

We took a taxi home (free because they also donated their time for the night) and slept in late this morning. We even missed church. Been working on lesson plans and laundry all day. Also bringing dinner to a friend tomorrow so I whipped up some yummy things for them as well. Nice boring Sunday!

Looking forward to a short week this week. I told Mike it will be last Sunday he will be able to see the TV from his favorite chair. Next weekend we cut down our tree! Woo Hoo! No matter how small of one we say we are going to get, it seems to grow in the truck on the way home and it block any view of the TV from our chair and ottoman.

Hope you had a great Sunday!

LB

And so it begins…..

Pretty

 

Happened to catch a pretty great sunset the other night, only to happen upon an even lovelier sunrise the next morning! I caught both….one while in my pajamas.

 

 

 

 

I have been loving this time change. The kids are in the house by 5:00 for the night. I love that. They can eat, shower, play…everything moves so much slower. Before the time change they were wanting to go out and play after supper, and then I am calling them in at 7 and it’s a rush to get everything done and them in bed by 8:00. I also love that they aren’t standing at the bus stop in the dark in the morning, and I am not driving to work in the pitch blackness.  Love this time change!

 

 

Mike was in Omaha for the past 4 days. I won’t talk about it on the blog or facebook because I am scared to stay alone and I don’t like people knowing he’s gone in case some crazy person wanted to come and try to get me. Ha! But, he’s back and all went fine when he was away. It sure is lonely without him here though. The kids aren’t much “work” anymore, but just having someone to hang out with at night was what I missed most. So glad he’s back! He has tomorrow off for Veteran’s Day so since he will be home at a decent time, we may try to hit Buffalo Wild Wings for supper. YUM!

 

 

Speaking of kids, they surprised me. Both kids are pretty good eaters. They like raw vegetables better than cooked which is fine in the summer, but makes winter harder. I had bought some I can’t Believe it’s Not Butter spray the other day. I made some steamed vegetables and the kids usually have a few. Once they saw me spritz my vegetables with a little spray, they were all over it. Now, they fight to get every last vegetable out of the bowl. Tonight it was broccoli, cauliflower, water chestnuts, pea pods, and carrots. They spray 3-4 times and they gobble up every bite. I made THIS recipe which is currently my favorite one I make. We all like it. Easy and tasty!

 

 

Busy weekend ahead, we have a birthday for Mike on Friday and a family wedding. Should be a fun!

 

Peace,

LB

Mercy

It started last week. Both boys and Mike got a cold. They all coughed, poor Connor got it the worst. THIS mama stood healthy and strong next to her wimpy testosterone-filled men.

When will I learn to stop talking smack?

Once they were all well, it started to hit me. First it was a sore throat that quickly changed to a cough and stuffy nose. FINE, I can take it. No big deal.

Monday school went fine. I was excited to start a new engineering/bridge project with my students on Tuesday and came home from school feeling prepared for that. By about 4:00 I could tell something wasn’t right. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew what I was feeling wasn’t just going to pass. By about 5:00 I had texted Mike to pick up supper, I was miserable.

I will spare you the details, but between the 100 visits to the bathroom (for many reasons) and fainting while in the bathroom (which has never happened to me before, I have never passed out. I never want to do it again. I am STILL totally freaked out by that), sweating buckets of water only to be freezing and unable to get warm 15 minutes later……I officially took over the title of Most Sick.

Now for most people being sick is no big deal, “You better call in!” my husband says to me.

Yes….I better call in. It doesn’t exactly work for teachers like that. There is no “calling in”. Missing work for a teacher usually means at least 2 hours of prep work, creating something out of nothing (not fair to a sub to teach physics), and contacting co-workers to help me if I can’t physically get into school. Which I couldn’t.

So, there I sat…..at 4 in the morning, making sub plans while wanting to curl up and die. I stayed home the next day too, finally going back to work today. I am exhausted. I have never been so tired. That illness was hard on me. I am too old for this. My cold still hung on through all of it. I am still coughing and I am still all snuffed up. I can deal with that though. I can’t deal with passing out in the bathroom and waking up to really bright lights because my head was tilted all the way back and I was staring into the lights. And my poor husband, he had heard the bang and tried to get into the bathroom. I had locked the door! Can you believe that? It kind of cracks me up, actually. He pounded and pounded on the door and I heard nothing. I laugh, but it could have gone so many wrong ways…..that is the part that scares me a little and I don’t like to think about. I have really bad luck usually, but this time luck was on my side.

The weekend is near. Only four more sleeps until my parents are home. Not that I miss them or anything……

Do you think this means I can skip the flu shot?

 

Happy weekend everyone,

LB